Anomalocaris
Anomalocaris (Greek, "abnormal shrimp") is an extinct genus of Anomalocaridid, which are, in turn, thought to be closely related to the arthropods along with Opabinia and Marrella (Unknown if it's phylum was Arthropod). Other Lobopods includes Hallucigenia, Opabinia and Aysheaia. Other Carnivores of the Burgess Shale include Priapulids (Stem-Group), Hurdia, Peytoia and Opabinia. Anomalocaris lived with Hallucigenia and Wiwaxia and they both first lived in Chengjiang. Description Anomalocaris is thought to have been a predator. It propelled itself through the water by undulating the flexible lobes on the sides of its body. Each lobe sloped below the one more posterior to it,and this overlapping allowed the lobes on each side of the body to act as a single "fin", maximising the swimming efficiency.The construction of a remote-controlled model showed this mode of swimming to be intrinsically stable,meaning that Anomalocaris need not have had a complex brain to cope with balancing while swimming. The lateral lobes overlapped. The widest part of the body was on the third to fifth lobe; it narrowed towards its tail, and had at least 11 lobes in total.The more posterior lobes are difficult to discriminate, making an accurate count difficult.Anomalocaris had a large head, a single pair of large, possibly compound eyes, and an unusual, disk-like mouth. The mouth was composed of 32 overlapping plates, four large and 28 small, resembling a pineapple ring with the center replaced by a series of serrated prongs.The mouth could constrict to crush prey, but never completely close, and the tooth-like prongs continued down the walls of the gullet.Two large 'arms' (up to seven inches in length when extended) with barb-like spikes were positioned in front of the mouth.The tail was large and fan-shaped, and along with undulations of the lobes, was probably used to propel the creature thro ugh Cambrian waters.Stacked lamella of what were probably gills attached to the top of each lobe. For the time in which it lived Anomalocaris was a truly gigantic creature, reaching lengths of up to one meter. Anomalocaris had a cosmopolitan distribution in Cambrian seas, and has been found from early to mid Cambrian deposits from Canada, China, Utah and Australia, to name but a few. Peytoia and Hurdia are other anomalocarids. A long-standing view holds that Anomalocaris fed on hard-bodied animals, including trilobites. While its mid-gut glands strongly suggest a predatory lifestyle, its ability to penetrate mineralised shells has come under fire in recent years.Some Cambrian trilobites have been found with round or W-shaped "bite" marks, which were identified in shape with the mouthparts of Anomalocaris. Opabinia could also fed on other creatures like Aysheaia and Hallucigenia but not Anomalocaris or a another giant predator like Hurdia with it's long gut. They are the biggest animals of the Burgess Shale and bigger than other Early and Middle Cambrian animals. In the Media * Anomalocaris was in the documentary Walking with Monsters, which is made from the same creators of Walking with Dinosaurs. In this documentary, it takes us back in time to the Cambrian when this fearsome predator ruled, and it shows us how it hunted an lived. * Anomalocaris also appeared in the first episode of the NOVA special, Australia's First Four Billion Years, where it was seen eating a trilobite. * It also appeared in Jurassic Park: Builder as an aquatic animal. * Anomalocaris appeared in Sea Rex 3D Journey To A Prehistoric World. * Anomalocaris will appear in Toei Animation series called Jurassic!. * Anomalocaris appears as a summonable creature in the Scribblenauts series. * The Teratopia animals Anomalocaris, Peytoia, and Laggania is inspired by inaccurate portrayals of this animal. Anomalocaris/Gallery References http://burgess-shale.rom.on.ca/en/fossil-gallery/view-species.php?id=1 Category:Carnivores Category:Large Carnivores Category:Invertebrates Category:Other Extinct Animals Category:Aquatic Creatures Category:Prehistoric Life Category:The Burgess Shale Category:Cambrian Category:Paleozoic Category:Lobopods Category:Apex predators Category:Wheeler Shale Category:Anomalocaridids Category:Pre Featured Articles Category:Emu Bay Shale Category:Burgess Shale Category:Early Cambrian Animals Category:Burgess Shale fossils Category:Protostomes Anomalocaris Category:Arthropods Category:LifeForms Category:Life Category:Lifeforms Category:Shrimp Category:Walking with Monsters Creatures Category:Jurassic Park: Builder Creatures Category:Birthdays the Beginning Organisms Category:China Category:Extinct animals of China Category:Prehistoric creatures which inspired pokemon designs Category:Fossil taxa described in 1892 Category:Aquatic life Category:Aquatic Predators Category:Carnivores Creatures